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Chapter IV
PRACTICAL VEDANTA
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Swami Vivekananda's ideas on nation-building in India come down to us

through his concepts of 'Practical Vedanta' and 'Man-Making'. At home he
was an unsettled mind being in constant struggle between his essentially
religious mind and his rational, atheist, humanistic practical training derived
from Bengal Renaissance set in motion by Rammohan Roy and the liberal
education offered to him by his father and the formal courses at school and
college. From early boyhood we find him searching God and this took him
in vain to such luminaries as Maharshi Devendranath Tagore.’ Dissatisfied
and confused Swamiji took the intellectual way of reaching God and intel-
lectualism brought him to Keshav Chandra Sen^ and 'Sadharan Brahmo Samaj'.^
But Swamiji's basic stuff was different. It was essentially spiritual in nature
that had been manifest since his very boyhood through his devotional songs,
his deep withdrawing eyesight, his compassion for the downtrodden, love for
friends and relations and urge for renunciation. So he was often found
wandering through the streets of Calcutta in a wretched condition unless he
met his Guru, Ramakrishnadev at the suggestion of his college Principal,
William Hastie ^ His mind was now settled, and his mission of life finally
detennined at the feet of Guru, Sri Ramakrishna, and from this final source
he had drawn the concept of Practical Vedanta.

In such a way Swamiji's concept of Practical Vedanta laid the foundation of

nationalism in India. This is a perfect symphony of reason and religion, body,
brain and soul, the Indian with European. This is based on a pride about
India's heritage and culture but unlike the Germans under Hitler and the
Italians under Mussolini it does not breed hatred and militancy towards other
nations. So Swamiji exclaimed, 'For patriotism, the Japanese ! for purity the
Hindu ! And for manliness the Europeans. There is no other in the world.^

Translated into programme Practical Vedanta is an instrument for the follow­

ing
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First, it elevates religion into spiritualism and at that stage all faiths, all
scriptures, and idolatry appear to be different faces of the same truth. So the
Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, the Jains all should feel that they are the
different expressions of the same Almighty God. So at the lower level they
should freely propagate their rehgion and practise religious rites and rituals.
But tlirough religion they would be able to elevate themselves to the feeling
of the quintessence of all faiths that all living beings are God at hand and
serving the cause of others is in fact serving Divine Will. This is Swamiji's
approach to nation-building in India. This approach begins with religion but
ends in society and economy. Swamiji felt that Indians are essentially bound
by religious ties and only a spiritual elevation of religion could unite them
beyond faiths, caste, community and sub-national and etlinic identities. Then
and only then all Indians will be permeated by a common bond of nation­
alism.

But at the same time Swamiji felt that the common bond could not be
artificially created so long as most Indians live in abject poverty, illiteracy,
blind faith steeped in rituals and superstition and are subject to exploitation
directly by the high caste, communal, social and political leaders and indi­
rectly by the alien rulers and their henchmen in the forms of metropolitan
English-educated 'Bhadrolok'^ professional and land-owning class. Then there
was also the exploitation by the rural land-owners and the money-lending
class, all sorts of torture, physical and mental over women and the bonded
labour. Under such circumstances, a loaf of bread, a permanent shelter and
source of income, provision for basic health and education and along with all
this social equality and freedom are far more important than 'Gita' or 'Koran'
or 'Bible'. But this transformation of society and economy require time and
investment. Meanwhile, Swamiji would seek to create scores of young men
and women with devotion and dedication who are prepared to sacrifice
personal comfort and interest for the sake of the poorest of the poor. In
 76

order to create such a band of youth proper training of the body, mind and
soul IS required and Swamiji would strive for giving his scheme of education
what we now call 'Man-making' Education. Apart from Education Swamiji
would require an organisation with India-wide and world-wide branches for
social and educational service in India and for the propagation of the teach­
ings of traditional Vedanta in the West. As has already been said arranging
money for this Swamiji went to America and his success was amazing.’ As
a nation-builder Swamiji's concrete contribution lies in his concept of 'Prac­
tical Vedanta' which in concrete terms can be actualised through Man-making
Education and Social Organisation.

By the Neo-Vedantism of Swami Vivekananda is meant the new Vedanta as

distinguished from the old traditional Vedanta developed by Shankaracharya.
Shankara's Vedanta is known as Advata or non-dualism, pure and simple. So
it is sometimes'called Kevala-advaita or unqualified monism. It may also be
called abstract monism in so far as Brahman, the ultimate reality, is, accord­
ing to it, devoid of all qualities and distinctions (nirguna and nirvishesha).
The neo-Vedanta is also Advaita in as much as it holds that Brahman, the
ultimate reality, is one without a second (ekamevadvitiyam). But as distin­
guished from the traditional Advaita of Shankara, it is a synthetic Vedanta
which reconciles Dvaita or dualism and Advaita or non-dualism and also
other theories of reality. So also it may be called concrete monism in so for
as it holds that Brahman is both qualitied and qualityless (saguna and nirguna),
it has forms and is also formless (sakara and nirakara).

The germs of Neo-Vedajtntism as also the rationale and beginning of its

practical application are to be found in the life and teachings of Sri
Ramakrsihna. It was left to Swami Vivekananda to develop them into the
philosophy of Neo-Vedantism and lay the foundation of practical Vedanta. Of
course, we do not deny that the fiindamental principles on which Neo-
 77

Vedantism and its practical application rest may be traced to the Vedas and
the Upanishads. But it was Sri Ramakrishna who demonstrated and synthe­
sized them through his manifold spiritual experience. He also gave them so
simple, direct and unfaltering expression as to dispel all doubts and misgiv­
ings from the minds of the modem rationalists and unbending unbelievers,
even Swami Vivekananda (then Narendranath Datta) not excepted. We are
to consider what these fundamental principles of Neo-Vedantism and its
application, as taught by Sri Ramakrishna, are and how Swami Vivekananda
developed them into a philosophy of practical Vedanta. But in order to bring
out its distinctive features, we have first to state briefly the main positions
of Advaita Vedanta as developed by Shankaracharya.

According to Shankara, the world is a false appearance (mithya) projected by

Maya on the one hand, and perceived by us on the other, on account of our
ignorance. This ignorance is a positive principle (bhava-rupa) in so for as it
conceals the reality of Brahman from our view (avarana) and constructs,
instead, the appearance of a world of many objects (vikshepa). Hence the
world has no place in Brahman, the absolute Reality; it is not a part, aspect
or manifestation of Brahman, though it apparently exists in and is sustained
by Brahman. It does not exist anywhere except in Brahman - not, however,
as a quality, adjective, or appearance of it, but only a false appearance in
it. The relation between Brahman and the world is neither positive nor nega­
tive, but only apparent and, therefore, strictly speaking, no relation at all.
The world has, of course an empirical existence in so far as it is perceived
by us. It has also an objective existence in as much as it exists out there
and is not like a fiction or subjective fancy of our mind, although it cannot
be called real in the same sense in which the eternal and uncontradictable
Brahman is real. While all this is Brahman and Brahman is present every­
where in the world, we in our ignorance fail to see It and, on the basis of
It and by the use of names and forms (nama-rupa), construct, instead, a
 78

world of many material things, bodies and minds, which exists as a matter
of fact and is perceived by us. Therefore it caimot be called unreal in the
sense of being mere negation or nothing or void. At the same time, being
impennanent and contradicted and destroyed, or at least contradictable and
destructible, it is rejected by Brahman and so cannot be called real either.
Strictly speaking, the world never exists in Brahman and will never exist.
Such is the metaphysical status of the world in Shankara's Advaita philoso­
phy

As ignorance about the real nature of the self is the root-cause of bondage,
liberation is to be attained through knowledge of the self as identical with
Brahman. What is necessary for this knowledge is the study of the Vedanta
and reflection and meditation on the truths learnt jfrom it, till there is a clear
realization of the truth that the self is Brahman (tat-tvam-asi) in the form
'lam Brahman'. The performance of religious works like rituals or devotion
to and worship of God cannot lead to liberation, for they pre-suppose the
reality of the many - the worshipper, the worshipped and the offerings, etc.
Hence instead of destroying ignorance and the illusion of the world, they
would bind us more to the world. Of couse, religious works purify the mind
and generate in us the desire to know Brahman. But after that, ignorance can
be removed and liberation attained only tlirough knowledge of the Self or of
Brahman. The hberated soul may continue to live in the body for some time
on account of the Karmas that have already begun to bear fruits (prarabadha
- Karma). But the liberated soul does never again identify itself with the
body. The world still appears before him, but he is not deceived by it. He
is therefore, not affected by the world's misery. He is in the world and yet
out of it. The man who has in this life attained to this state is called the
'living free' (jivan - mukta). But liberation is not the production of anything
new. It is only a clear and steady recognition of what is always there,
namely the identity of the self and Brahman. Liberation is not merely the
 79

absence of misery which arises from the false sense or distinction between
the self and Brahman. On the other hand, it is a state of positive bliss
(ananda), because Brahman is bhss and liberation is identity with Brahman.

Sri Ramakrishna lived a life of manifold spiritual realization. He approached

Reality along numerous paths and had very varied experiences of It. He
found that though these experiences differ in their specific forms and char­
acters, yet they all relate to the same Real and reveal only different forms
and aspects of It. These experiences being equally direct and genuine, he
was convinced that Reality has many aspects, forms and characters, and also
that in one aspect It is formless and characterless. This is a sort of experi­
mental verification of the truth contained in a Rig-Vedic verse which declares
; The one reality is called by the wise in different ways'. On the strength
of his various spiritual experiences and realizations, Sri Ramakrishna taught
many truths for the good of the world. He lived in an age in which the
world was tom by conflicts of creeds and doctrines, theologies and philoso­
phies, and the relation between anytwo religious-sects or communities was
embittered by intolerance, jealousy and contempt of each other. It was a
mission of his life to end these conflicts and bring about reconciliation. Of
his many teachings we take note of the following as relevant to our present
subject - Neo-Vedantism and its Practical Application.

First, Sri Ramakrishna teaches that Brahman and Shakti or Kali are not two
different realities or existences inseparably related to each other as substance
and quality. They are only two aspects of the same reality or two states of
the same thing and, therefore, non-different (abheda).

Secondly, Sri Ramakrishna teachesthat it is the same reality that is the

nameless and formless Brahman for the Jnani or the man of Philosophic
insight, the Atman or pure self for the Yogi or the man absorbed in medi­
 80

tation, and Bhagavan or Personal God for the Bhakta or the man of devo­
tion, This means that the absolute Reality may be formless or It may have
forms, so that the worship of the forms of God has not less value and
validity than the worship of the formless Brahman.

Thirdly, Sri Ramakrishna sometimes speaks of the seven psychic centres

from the muladhara to sahasrara in the human body and the seven levels of
consciousness connected with them. Here he teaches that when the mind
rises to the sixth level, we have the experience of the forms of God, but
when it comes up to the seventh level, it is absorbed in Samadhi and per­
ceives no form, no object at all.

According to Swami Vivekananda, the Vedaiita does not in reality denounce

the world. What it seeks to teach is the deification of the world and not its
annihilation. It does not give us a suicidal advice to kill ourselves and
annihilate the world. What is really intended by it is the deification of the
world - giving up the world as we ordinarily think of it, as it appears to us
- and to know what it really is. The Swami says ; "Deify it (the world); it
is God alone; and he cites the opening verse of the Ishopanishad which says
; 'whatever exists in this universe, is to be covered with the Lord . He goes
on further and says : 'You can have your wife; it does not mean that you
are to abandon her, but that you are to see God in the wife.' So also, you
are 'to see God in your children. So in everything. In life and in death, in
happiness and in misery, the Lord is equally present. The whole world is full
of the Lord. Open your eyes and see Him. This is what Vedanta teaches" \
As further evidence of Swami Vivekananda's affirmation of the world in God,
we may consider what he says with regard to the way and the attitude with
which we are to work in the world. This, he says, is the Vedantic way and
the Vedantic attitude. We are to work by giving up, i.e. giving up the
apparent, illusive world. This means that we are to work by seeing God
 81

everywhere. 'Desire to live a hundred years', he says, "have all earthly de­
sires, if you wish, only deify them, convert them into heaven . . .Thus
working, you will find the way out. There is no other way. If a man plunges
headlong into foolish luxuries of the world without knowing the truth, he has
missed his footing, he cannot reach the goal. And if a man curses the world,
goes into a forest, mortifies his flesh and kills himself little by little by
starvation, makes his heart a barren waste, kills out all feeling, and becomes
harsh, stem, and dried up, that man also has missed the way. These are the
two extremes, the two mistakes at either end. Both have lost the way, both
have missed the goal"^ All this may be summed up in one single and simple
utterance of Sri Ramakrishna; 'Do whatever you like with the knowledge of
the non-dual Brahman tied up in a comer of your cloth (i.e. in your posses­
sion).'

Like Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda holds that Advaita and Dvaita
and Vishishtadvaita are all tme and that the descriptions of Brahman given
by them relate to the same reality. In Advaita, Brahman has no quality, no
form (nirguna). It is indeterminate and impersonal. It is neither a creator nor
sustainer, nor destroyer of the world, neither omnipotent nor omniscient,
neither gracious nor merciful. But for Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita, Braliman
has all good qualities. He has also forms (saguna). He is a Personal Being
and is the omnipotent and omniscient creator, sustainer and destroyer of the
world,

Swami Vivekananda in his Neo-Vedanta combines jnana, karma, bhakti and

yoga. What he wants is a religion that will be equally acceptable to all
minds; it must be equally philosophic, equally emotional, equally conducive
to action.^'’ How much he desired that "all men were so constituted that in
their minds all these elements of philosophy, mysticism, emotion, and of
work were equally present in full.**" To become harmoniously balanced in all
 82

these four directions is his ideal of rehgion. And this ideal, he thinks, is
attained by what we, in India, call Yoga - Union.

The best parts of the Vedanta philosophy, he thinks, were not the outcome
of meditation in the forests only, but were thought out and expressed by
brains which were busiest in the everyday affairs of life.

The first thing that we should constantly bear in mind is that our life is one
and that there is one life in all. It is not true to say that we live two lives,
one religious and the other worldly. It is the same life that we live when we
are religious and also when we are engaged in ordinary worldly activities. If
we sincerely believe in this, then the ideals of religion will more and more
enter into all our thoughts and shape our practical conduct.

"The Vedanta can be carried into our everyday life, the city life, the country
life, the national life, and the home life of every nation.*^" A rehgion that
cannot be put into practice, that cannot help man wherever he may be, is not
of much use and value. Judged by this test Vedanta will be found practical.

The real practical side of Neo-Vedanta is to see God in everything, and as

everything. The earth and the heaven, fne and sun, the moon, the stars and
the water are all forms of Brahman. All men and women, and even animals
are forms of Brahman.

Another practical side of Swami Vivekananda's Neo-Vedantism is the call to

us to be first gods, and then help others to be gods. We should look upon
every man, woman, and everyone as God. So we are really to serve them
and not help them. But if it be our good fortune to help any one of them,
we should do it only as a worship. The poor and the miserable give us
opportunity to serve. God coming to us in the person of the diseased, the
lunatic, the leper and the sinner. It was this conviction that inspired one of
Swami Vivekananda's memorable utterances : "May I be bom again and
 83

again and suffer thousands of miseries, so that I may worship the only God
that exists, the only God I believe in, the sum total of all souls and above
all, my God the wicked, my God the miserable, my God the poor of all
races, of all species, is the special object of my worship.'^"

Another important practical side of Swamiji's Neo-Vedanta is acceptance, not

mere tolerance, of other forms of worship. According to it, other forms of
worship, including the worship of God through ceremonials and forms, are
not in error. It is the journey from truth to truth, from lower truth to higher
truth. We should see others with eyes of love, with sympathy, knowing that
they are going alone the same path that we trod. So the Advaita of Swami
Vivekananda not only tolerates but accepts and respects other rehgions of the
world as but different paths that lead to the same goal - God.

Such is Swami Vivekananda's practical Vedanta, a living Vedanta, and not a

dry and dead theory of the Vedanta. It is the Vedanta of the forests come
back to our home, our city, and our society; it is the Vedanta entering into
our ordinary life and conduct; it is the Vedanta that may inspire our indi­
vidual life, social life and national and international life. Swami Vivekananda
wants us to carry the eternal message of the Vedanta to every door and to
every comer of the world. It is this Vedanta that inspires the Ramakrishna
Math and Mission and their vast and varied humanitarian activities. Let them
go on for long till the whole world comes to realize the truth : Tat-tvam-
asi', and is transformed into heaven.

Swamiji awakened the slumbering nation with the lion-roar, 'Arise, Awake,
and stop not till the goal is reached !' The Vedanta, the Upanishads, exhort
us to overcome sloth, idleness, inertia, weakness and faintheartedness. We
need strength, Real strength is the spiritual power of the Self

For him nationalism did not mean merely love of our motherland stretching
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from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari, but also means that we should love our
religion and culture, our spiritual heritage and scriptures, and should feel
proud of them. It also means that we should have love and reverence for all
the great men and women in our history and revere their memory. At the
same time we should love the poor, the downtrodden, the helpless and
miserable who are with us.

A fully integrated society is not practically possible in India unless the con­
dition of poor and mis^-able people is improved. Swamiji always held that
their uplift is the basic pre-condition for building up the great India of the
future that he in his fervent patriotism visualized. He said that no amount of
politics would be of any avail until the masses in India are once more well-
educated, well-fed, and well-cared for.

Swami Vivekananda advocated the practical Vedanta. The Vedanta holds not
only that all men are one in spiritual brotherhood, but that the last word in
religion is man's reahzation of his essential oneness with the entire universe.
"The central teaching of the Vedanta - the Upanishads - is how to realize
thie oneness. In the sense of spiritual oneness alone comes love and fearless­
ness; separation leads us to hatred and fear. Swamiji also taught that ...
oneness is the secret of everything and everywhere we are one.^'^" He wanted
a twofold application of Vedanta in our practical day-to-day life - one, for
awakening man's faith in himself and his own strength, and two, selfless
work in the spirit of serving all men in the spirit of serving God. Swamiji
says, 'Look upon every man, woman, and everyone as God. You cannot help
anyone. You can only serve; serve the children of the Lord, serve the Lord
Himself if you have the privilege.

Urging all Indians to do away even with narrow nationalism, he reminded

them of the need to place and judge all problems with an international
 85

perspective. He exhorted Indians to work for education and uplift of the

masses, and national integration so that hdia could take her leading role in
the community of nations. His call to the people was to be strong and help
others, and to have faith in their own goodness. Three things, he used to say,
are necessary for making an individual or a nation great : (i) Conviction of
the power of goodness, (ii) Absence of jealousy, and (iii) Being and doing
good oneself and helping others who are trying to be and to do good. Thus
he showed us the way to build the nation on a sound and rational founda­
tion. For Indians rehgion will be the greatest help, and everything should be
done tlirough religion.

According to Vivekananda, understanding and cherishing, practising and teach­

ing the values of our religion and culture is the greatest act of patriotism.
Expansion is life, he used to say, and intertia, contraction and selfishness is
death. Rehgion and culture lies at the very soul of India and is in the life
blood of the nation. Therefore, the highest act of patriotism and the greatest
good we can do to ourselves is to cling first to the universal principles of
true religion, practise them and propagate them. Always Swamiji reminded us
that our religion is the most rational and scientific one and recognizes the
divinity in every man, the unity and oneness of God, and the harmony of all
religions.
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Notes and References :

1. Father of Rabindranath Tagore, one of the founders of Brahmo Samaj

and one of the tallest social leaders of the time. Swamiji put him the
question ‘Have you seen God? ’ Maharshi had no direct answer to
this question and his indirect explanation of the manifestation of
Go^ds couldn’t satisfy Swamiji.

2. Keshav Chandra Sen, the leading figure of ‘Sadharan Brahmo Samaj’

was one of the main rallying figures of the youth who were captivated
by his speech on social reforms and his protest against the Hindu
idolatry and orthodox Brahminic rituals. Strangely enough, such a
leading intellectual was transformed later on by Ramakrishna Dev
who reached God through worshipping ‘Kali’ idol but from whom
both Keshav Sen and Swamiji got the first lessons of ‘Practical
Vedanta’.

3. Brahmo Samaj was both a theory and a movement that arose in the
nineteenth century Bengal in direct response to Bengal Renaissance
and the spread of English education among the Bengali middle class
and the landed aristocracy. It stood for a rational approach to religion,
equality and liberty of man and the spread of education both English
and Vernacular and the empowerment of women. It protested against
image worship and all other orthodox Hindu rites and rituals attached
to it, age-old caste system and other social evils. Since the social
ground was not prepared, its influence was limited to a select group
of people.

4. It was Professor Hastie, the Principal and English teacher in General

Assemblys’ College, (now known as Scottish Church College, about
10 minutes walk from Swamiji’s house) who first described his
personal experience to his students about Ramakrishna at
 87

Dakshy^'ineswar while explaining the term ‘Excursion’ in Wordsworth’s

poem. According to him Sri Ramakrishna experienced a mental and
physical transformation in spiritual ecstasy with a vision of universal
reality and this is a type of ‘Excursion’.

5. Sister Nivedita, ‘The Master As I saw Him,’ (Udbodhan Office,

Kolkata - 700 003, Ninth Edition, 2003). P. 196.

6. ‘Bhadrolak’ - This is Bengali rendering of Gentleman. A new middle

class was bom out of English education and land revenue system
introduced by the British in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century
Bengal who led the reform movements in different directions. To the
poor and lower middle class the new middle class was known as
‘Bhadralok’.

7. A good many American and European disciples of Swamiji came to

India to provide financial and moral support and due to their support
at the initial stage Ramakrishna Math and Mission was set up.
Prominent among them were Miss Margaret Noble, Miss Muller, Mrs.
Ole Bull and Miss Josephinf MacLeod, Miss Mary Hale, Mr. John
Fox, Sister Christine, Mr. E.T. Sturdy and many other noble hearts.

8. ‘The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda’ Vol. 2. PP 298 - 300.

9. Ibid, Vol. 3, PP 290 - 292

10. Ibid, Vol. 3, P 301

11. Swami Vivekananda Centennry Memorial Volume. P. 102.

12. Ibid, R 213

13. Swami Vivekananda, ‘Practical Vedanta,’ pp 90 - 91.

14. Ibid, R 56